The Thing - Collector's Edition

Rating:
Summary: What the heck is that spider thing in the corner?
Review: One of the most creative and disgusting horror films of our time, John Carpenter's `The Thing' has held its own ground through more than two decades, still producing the loud cry of "Euewwwwwwww" from both new viewers and old. Never has there been a slimier, stealthier, more appalling evil that what comes out of the snow in this spectacular film.

The film opens at an American camp in Antarctica, when the men's routine day is interrupted by a crazy Norwegian flying into their camp by helicopter and shooting at a Husky. "Why is he shooting at that sweet doggie?"

After taking out the insane Norwegian, doggie is put in with the other dogs at the American camp. But is doggie really a doggie? The Americans fly over to the Norwegian camp to attempt to discover what happened to the insane man. They find a camp filled with dead men, a burned pile of fleshy debris, and a huge spaceship in the ice. Naturally, they take the fleshy thing back to study it, and find that it is a mixture of unformed species, including human.

In the meantime, doggie is ready to take over more than just a Husky body. Doggie is a `Thing', an organism whose every cell is alive and coded for survival. Only one cell from this organism can invade and take over a host, mimicking its looks, thoughts, patterns, everything. But above all else, it must survive; it must defend itself.

What follows is a full-blown terror fest of horrendously tense proportions. Stuck in a camp on the ice, with The Thing in their midst, the men no longer know who they can trust, and who is still human.

I remember seeing this film in the theater, on the big screen, in 1982 when it was first released. This was the only movie I ever saw that I found myself unable to finish my popcorn while watching it. The special effects, even in today's standards, are breathtakingly grotesque and morbidly twisted. The fear and foreboding in the atmosphere of the movie is palpable, and the scream bubbling up in your throat is very real indeed.

Excellent performances by Kurt Russell (MacReady), Wilford Brimley (Dr. Blair), Keith David (Childs), David Clennon (Palmer), Charles Hallahan (Norris), T.K. Carter (Nauls), Richard A. Dysart (Cooper), Peter Maloney (Bennings), Richard Masur (Clark), Joel Polis (Fuchs), Donald Moffat (Garry) and Thomas g. Waites (Windows). Special note, the computer voice in `The Thing' was done by Adrienne Barbeau, queen of the B terror flicks. Each and every one of these actors did a superb job in the film.

This is a movie you simply have to watch for the grossness and the impending doom, which will deliver a question at the end that will leave you awake far into the night, pondering as you gaze over at your snoring mate. Truly, one of my absolute favorites, and one of the best horror movies of all time. A ten star film! Enjoy!